In Streets and Online, Campaign Fever in Egypt

Muslim Brotherhood supporters, one seen in reflection, in January. Many Egyptians saw parliamentary elections as a dry run for this week’s vote. Credit
Moises Saman for The New York Times

CAIRO — “Good morning! Who are you going to vote for?”

That is the new standard Egyptian salutation, said Shafiq Abdel Khaleq, 50, an engineer playing chess at a streetside cafe in the working-class Cairo neighborhood of Sayeda Zeinab.

“There isn’t anyone left who doesn’t talk about politics,” he added, moving a piece.

“But no one knows anything!” replied his opponent, Hussein Zayed, a 53-year-old importer, who then called checkmate.

Three days before voting begins in the first competitive presidential election in the history of the Arab world, the combination of novelty, high stakes, suspense and confusion has infected Egypt with a case of campaign fever that makes World Cup soccer finals look tame by comparison, to say nothing of the predictably quadrennial two-party contests that Americans still call exciting.

There are no reliable opinion polls here to help sort through the noise. Nor is there a permanent constitution to set the president’s duties or powers. But there is a widespread conviction that whoever wins the election will play a major role in setting Egypt’s course for decades to come.

So at the streetside cafes where average Egyptians pay about 15 cents a cup for Turkish coffee or sugary tea, a steady buzz of candidates’ names floats above the tables, and the patrons divide themselves into impassioned camps supporting the five plausible contenders still in the race.

Two are rival Islamists, one leaning left and the other right. Two more held appointed posts under Hosni Mubarak, the longtime president driven from power by mass protests 15 months ago. And one is a voice from even deeper in the past: a poet-turned-populist who is campaigning as a follower of the leader of the Egyptian revolution of 1952, President Gamal Abdel Nasser. All five candidates have spirited defenders as well as detractors.

Even at a cellphone shop, the store clerk was asking each customer to name their candidate of choice, said Shadi Hamid, the Egyptian-American research director of the Brookings Doha Center. “People are just obsessed,” Mr. Hamid said. “Apparently, as we are finding out, Egyptians like to vote.”

Photo

A girl held a national flag before a rally for Amr Moussa in the rural village of Tamad al-Hagar.Credit
Moises Saman for The New York Times

Compared with Egypt right now, he said, the level of voter interest in the American election “is not even close.”

Homemade songs and videos about the candidates are posted online by enthusiasts, with many of the songs in a popular style akin to American house music. “Ahmed Shafik, you’re very tough, we love you very much,” runs one such song about Mr. Mubarak’s former prime minister.

Many Egyptians now say that they see the parliamentary elections held earlier this year as something of a dry run, because under the country’s current military rulers the Parliament has turned out to have little power. Still, some voters said they regretted backing the Islamists of the Muslim Brotherhood, who won that election.

“I voted for them in Parliament thinking they’d be the religious revolutionary force,” said Ali Hamed, 59, a driver at a cafe in the neighborhood of Nasr City. “But the bread lines are longer than ever, and all they care about is their own greed for power!”

“So many heated conversations every day” had failed to help him make up his mind for a candidate, Mr. Hamed said, so he planned to pray for guidance.

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Supporters of Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, a liberal Islamist, at an event outside Cairo.Credit
Moises Saman for The New York Times

Members of Egypt’s large Christian minority — about 10 percent of the population — are having their own fierce debate. Can they trust the assurances of an Islamist about minority rights and equal citizenship, or should they seek the protection of a strong hand from the old government? “We need a president who can take decisions firmly,” said Wassem Raouf, a Christian bank clerk, explaining his preference for one of the former Mubarak officials.

The election, Mr. Raouf said, will determine the future roles of religion and the military in the government. “I am just afraid we might not like the answer democracy gives us,” he said.

Many people said their own families were now divided — and preoccupied — by the presidential race. “Each of my sons supports a different candidate,” said Samah El-Kader 56, a textile worker, at the Nasr City cafe. One son backs Mr. Aboul Fotouh, while the other backs the Nasserite, Hamdeen Sabbahy. Mr. Kader himself favors Amr Moussa, a former diplomat and elder statesman. “Democracy in my family,” he called it.

Even spouses may disagree. Mohamed Khalaf, 34, a college graduate working temporarily as a waiter, said he would vote for Mr. Morsi but could not persuade his wife, who favors Mr. Sabbahy, to do the same.

“Divorce her, then!” his boss, Sami Ahmed, 43, interjected. Mr. Ahmed said he intended to force his own wife to vote with him for Mr. Mubarak’s former prime minister, Mr. Shafik. “And I will just fire you then,” he joked to Mr. Khalaf as they sat together at the cafe in Sayeda Zeinab. “He is our Mubarak,” Mr. Khalaf said of his boss.

Overhearing the discussion, a stranger interrupted to ask whether they were talking with a journalist. “Please, if you interview Amr Moussa, tell him Ragab el-Fayoumi says hi,” the man said to the reporter. “Tell him, ‘Ragab el-Fayoumi supports you and will vote for you.’ ”

Campaign posters cover walls in cities and towns across Egypt, sometimes pasted in thick layers, while banners hang from billboards and trees. In a country where two out of five people live on less than $2 a day, some people called the advertising wars a frivolous waste. “They have ruined the streets and walls,” complained Samira Hussein, 42, an English teacher. “The TV advertisements are enough, but billboards and street signs are pointless!”

Other Egyptians said they loved every bit of it. “No matter who wins, this is a positive change,” said Alaa El Shourafa, a garment-store worker at the Nasr City cafe. “These people are competing to be elected by the will of the people!”

Dina Salah Amer and Mai Ayyad contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on May 21, 2012, on page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: In Streets and Online, Campaign Fever in Egypt. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe